


Curses

by PinkVomit



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Betrayal, Curses, Demon, Demon AU, Demon Hunters, Demon Lucio, Devil Lucio (The Arcana), Emotional Baggage, Emotionally Repressed, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Fairy Tale Elements, Fantasy, Gay tension, He just has top energy in the first chapter, Like a lotta gay tension, Lucio (The Arcana) Being A Dick, Lucio (The Arcana) Is A Little Shit, Lucio being protective, Lucio is the big spoon, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Spooning, Tension, Top Lucio (The Arcana), and then it climbs up to romance, first they try to kill eachother, not atm tho, these fucking idiots, this isnt a smut fic i swear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:20:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 21,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25320769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinkVomit/pseuds/PinkVomit
Summary: The trip was long and the nights were cold, but that wouldn’t stop Mars. Not much  could. There were very many things one could assume this unbridled determination was based on: spite, thrill, shame, bravery, stupidity, maybe a mix of the sum. Only one thing was certain, however.He was going to break his curse.Unfortunately, the one he was set to break his curse with was all in all an insufferable prick.
Relationships: Apprentice/Julian Devorak, Apprentice/Lucio (The Arcana)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 22





	1. Curse Breaking

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on an rp I'm doing with a friend of mine! Eric, you absolute bastard, thank you for writing this story with me.

The trip was long and the nights were cold, but that wouldn’t stop Mars. Not much could. There were very many things one could assume this unbridled determination was based on: spite, thrill, shame, bravery, stupidity, maybe a mix of the sum. Only one thing was certain, however.

He was going to break his curse.

Him having a curse wasn’t something he’d like to flaunt. In this land, it was generally accepted that no good could come from those marked by demons. Why would anyone good uphold anything with the likes of a demon, and for what reason could they not go through with their end of the deal? Demons mark their deals much like how one normally would: with their signature. Only, instead of ink scrawlings at the end of a legal document, they would sign it on the flesh of those who consorted with them. 

All deals have consequences. Sadly, demons love consequences. Those who could not uphold their end of the bargain they made would face such consequences, usually resulting in the creation of another demon.

Consequences that, despite his best efforts to deny, were already seeming to catch up with him. The bad luck that seemed to follow him like an ugly shadow crept itself into the well-being of the others in his life. A once-thriving community of magic users was spotted by those who sought to steal them away, leading to the village burning down, poachers taking anyone they could, and the rest scattering off into different directions. This string of bad luck, he decided, was all his fault. It had to be. His luck had to be affecting those around him.

So, here he was. Out in the world trying to find a way to break his curse. He kept his left hand that harbored his mark covered by his sleeve. He thought it good for himself to help those in need as he went on, hoping that by breaking others’ curses he could find a way to break his own. His only other hope was to find his lead: a strange magician who had visited his small town all the way from Vesuvia by the name of Asra.

Today, he wasn’t trying to break someone else’s curse. He had made a small pit stop in a town called Catyr. This town was horribly small. awfully rural, and terribly dreary. The people looked at him with a thousand-yard stare. It was hard to ignore how they chose their words with paranoid caution, how they’d shift to hold their bags like an improvised weapon, how they’d scurry away after the pressure of Mars’ onslaught of casual questions became too much to handle.

They either really did not enjoy how nosey he was, or they had something to hide. Maybe both.

He managed to find someone to answer a single question of his: “What has everyone so on edge?”

Mars could see the man he questioned begin to shift nervously, but to his surprise, the man answered. He pointed to the cluster of earth that loomed over the town, hand shaking as he did so. The man spoke of the Goatman: a horrid beast that would feast upon one of their own every few months, lest their entire town be slaughtered if they failed to comply. Such an answer brought the attention of prying ears. Said prying ears would pick up on a reply that would change the course of Mars’ life, unbeknownst to him.

“Do you want me to kill it for you?”

There was a shocked silence among the townsfolk, only to be cut off by the man’s gratitude. He was quick to accept, quick to guide Mars to the residence of the Goatman, quick to excuse the townsfolk’s interest with the prospect that they would want to see their freedom unfold, quick to distract Mars from the pitying looks people gave him with stories of the Goatman’s vicious crimes.

Stupid. It was stupid. The plan was stupid, the intent was stupidly obvious, the name they gave the local cryptid was stupid, and he was stupid for falling for it. He certainly felt stupid as he was rudely shoved into the single skylight that served as the cave’s one entrance. 

Mars looked in bitter betrayal at the townsfolk as they peered down inside before disappearing one by one, then to the cave’s dark corners to try and get a sense of things.

The last thing he was expecting to see was the face of a handsome man.

When he heard the man speak of the Goatman, he was expecting a more animalistic creature. Mostly, a very imposing goat that stood on two legs. This goatman looked to be half of that. His hind legs ended in the hooves of a goat, fur matted from years of neglect. The rest of him was shockingly human, save for the onyx horns, scarlet eyes, and a left arm that resembled armor long since buried beneath cooled lava.

The Goatman looked at the man before him with a mocking smile upon his lips, a low chuckle rumbling from his throat. This wasn’t a new situation for him by any means. The citizens of the nearby town had spent ages trying to be rid of him to no avail. In their desperation, they had taken to sending off hapless victims to his cave as sacrifices in hope that any one of them would be pure enough to quell the beast’s hunger for destruction. To successfully sacrifice someone pure of heart meant that the beast’s wrath would be assuaged for some time before another sacrifice was due, lest the entire town be destroyed along with everyone in it.

He approached Mars slowly, an air of cruel amusement behind his unblinking stare. “Oh, so you’re the sacrifice this time around. You must feel so lucky,” he taunted. “No need to look so surprised. You should’ve seen this coming, trusting the likes of the idiots who brought you here. But I see no issue anyhow. Anyone should consider it an honor to be worthy as my sacrifice.” He paced behind the man, placing his hand upon his shoulder and digging in his nails in an iron grip. He leaned in to hiss into his ear, “By the looks of you, I think I should enjoy stealing your heart.”

Mars twisted around, pulling out the sword he kept on his belt to keep distance between himself and the beast before him.

"Sorry, but no." The familiar shine of fear did not ring through his eyes. Mars took a deep breath, steadied his sword, and began to back up. "I think I'll keep it."

Great. Amazing. Not only was he going to die like this, he was going to die as the idiot who fell for a man’s obvious tricks. He could feel his blood boil at the reminder of betrayal. Mars clenched his sword and took another deep breath to regain control of his senses.

The beast glanced down at Mars’ sword for a brief moment, an amused smirk tugging at corners of his lips. “Oh. How cute. You don’t want to make this easy for me, do you?” 

His expression changed into that of an animalistic grin. He looked down at his hand and flexed his fingers as he took a few steps backward. “Not that I have any qualms about that. Most sacrifices don’t even try to put up a fight. I have to say, I’ve been bored out of my mind as of late, and you have my thanks for the entertainment. Not that it’ll last very long.” His eyes shot back up at Mars, his hand suddenly emanating a demonic red glow. “It was a pleasure meeting you, sweetheart. Sad we have to cut our meeting so short.”

He reared his hand back and rushed forward, laughing as he aimed his outstretched fingers toward Mars’ chest. Mars was able to move away fast, though not quick enough to keep his left arm out of harm’s way. The Goatman's nails dug into what it could hold and ripped off the fabric of his sleeve with ease, leaving shallow gashes behind to replace it.

He was not willing to die a fool's death. Mars swiped his sword at the beast, managing to draw a few droplets of blood.

It didn't seem to affect the beast much. Mars kept his distance, quickly scanning the cave for any means of escape. The skylight he was pushed through seemed to be the only exit and his only means of safety. The walls of stone around him were too smooth and steep to climb. He could almost feel the biting sting of panic edge his senses as he began to realize there wasn’t much of a way out.

The beast wiped away the blood where he had been struck, watching as it trickled down his fingers. “Well, you’ve got some balls, don’t you?” He laughed and wiped the blood off on the back of his neck, rolling his shoulders back. He glanced back up at Mars, observing as the other scanned his environment for any means of escape. “If you really think you’re getting out of here alive, I’m sorry to say I have some bad news for you.”

He lunged forward and grabbed Mars by the throat, throwing him against the cave wall and to the ground, stepping on Mars’ wrist to prevent him from further wielding his sword against him. 

Stooping down, he grabbed Mars by the chin, forcing him to look up. The red glow from his hand produced searing heat. “Now if you don’t mind, your heart belongs to me and you can’t stop me from taking it.”

He gasped desperately for air, hissing as the beast's hand burned his skin. The world spun around and his body made its last ditch effort to save him, taking his one free arm to try and pry his hand off.

To his surprise, he felt the weight on his body lighten.

The curse marked on Mars' hand showed the beast that his heart was not to be taken, if he had one in the first place. This man was not pure of heart, unable to provide him with what he needed.

The beast known as Lucio shared the same one on the back of his reddened hand; a dreadful reminder of what was to come if he failed to collect pure hearts.

Lucio’s entire body stiffened, looking back and forth between their identically marked hands. 

Lucio bore his teeth, an expression of rage contorting his features. “…Those morons!” he snarled, shoving Mars away before straightening his posture and furiously stepping away. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he began to pace. “Those idiots had one job. One job! Bring me someone who’s pure of heart, right?” he ranted, abruptly turning to look down at Mars. “I mean, I know they’re stupid, but that should be more than easy enough for them to manage. But no. No! Of course not! Not only did they bring me someone who’s not pure of heart, they bring me someone who’s fucking cursed!” he shouted, gesturing toward Mars. “Only they could screw up that hard. Honestly, why do I even keep them alive? I’ve been more than gracious enough to have spared them this long already.”

Mars, meanwhile, struggled to recover from his body being tossed aside like scraps on a dinner plate. He sputtered, gasping for the air he wasn’t provided when in Lucio's hold.

It took him a moment to process why he was still alive. He sighed, standing back up with a pointed glare in Lucio’s direction.

"I'm sorry for not being pure of heart for you?" Mars made an effort to keep his distance. "Not my fault you're picky, they just threw me down here."

“I’m not picky,” he scoffed, looking at Mars condescendingly, “I just have standards. I have no use for your worthless heart, if you even have one. In fact, you should be thanking me for noticing that you’re cursed! You’re alive right now because of me, so you’re welcome!” he spat bitterly. He was beginning to rile down, his previously irate expression having gradually eased to one of irritation rather than blind fury.

Picking his sword back up, Mars went under the skylight and stabbed it into the cracked stone ground.

"Well, thank you so much for deciding to not kill me." He rolled his eyes. Mars pressed down on the hilt of the sword to sink it in a firmer hold. "Why would you need some crummy strangers' heart anyways? If you were hungry, I doubt you'd really care if I was cursed."

Mars backed far away from the sword as much as he could. Lucio wasn't exactly sure of what his previous victim was doing until this apparent idiot ran at and jumped onto the hilt of his weapon in his attempt to escape. His hand almost reached the edge of the skylight before he fell to the hard and very unforgiving floor.

"Fuck," Mars gave out a strangled groan. "Ow, fuck, shit, bad idea, fuck."

“What are you…” Lucio emitted a stifled laugh when he realized what Mars was attempting to do, and watched in poorly concealed amusement as he fell.

He approached to loom over Mars who was now on the floor. “Did you seriously think that was going to work? Honestly though, I’m surprised you even got close. Looks like you’ve done this before.” 

Leaning down on one knee, he gave Mars a near feral grin. “But you really don’t have to make this so hard for yourself. As much as I enjoy your company, I really have no use for you here. If you really want out,” he proposed with a sadistic gleam in his eyes, “all you have to do is beg.”

Mars froze for a moment at the proposition, looking back up at Lucio to decide whether or not he was being completely serious. The glance revealed nothing.

Getting up, he proceeded to try and climb the sword again. This attempt was also fruitless.

"You didn't answer my question." Mars said in lieu of response. He fell off his sword again, this time landing on his feet.

Lucio scowled as he watched Mars continue his escape attempt. “Really? You’re just gonna keep going at it when I’m right here?” 

Lucio seemed annoyed that Mars refused to comply with his attempts at toying with him. “Look, you’re wasting my time. You wanna know why I need a pure heart as a sacrifice?” Lucio grabbed the collar of Mars’ shirt before he could make another failed attempt to escape, pulling him close. “Because I need it to survive, got it?” he snarled. “And if no one is willing to bring me one of their own accord, I will find one by any means necessary. I will destroy anyone who stands in my way if that’s what it takes.”

Lucio released Mars’ collar and shoved him away. He stepped back a few paces, taking in a deep breath before releasing it. “So that town I assume you were trying to protect? Yeah. They’re all gonna be dead and they have no one to blame but themselves.”

Mars stumbled back, having to place his hand on the wall to keep him from tumbling. He took note of the hand that shoved him; the armor of it looking no less threatening when no longer glowing red, the curse mark still being very prominent. A curse like his must have been very strong if he needed hearts to survive.

"Did they curse you?" Mars approached him, seeming to compare their devil marks, trying to decipher any possible difference between the two. "The people in town, I mean."

Lucio shook his head and looked up at Mars as he began to approach. “…No, not the townspeople. I doubt any of them would be powerful enough to pull that off, anyway, if any of them even know magic at all.” He scoffed dryly and averted his eyes to the marking on the back of his hand, a sullen expression hardening the lines of his face.

“No, I was cursed by the Devil himself. I made a deal with him, and…I guess it spiraled out of control by no fault of my own. He promised me immense power, and…I mean, I suppose he technically followed through with his end of the bargain, but when I told him I wanted power, I didn’t expect to become a…a fucking demon!” His head snapped back up to look at Mars, his shoulders heaving from almost pained, rasping breaths. “…But what does that matter to you, anyway? I don’t owe you any explanation. I don’t even know why I told you this in the first place. Consider yourself lucky.”

Mars nearly pitied him, seeing the demon before him rasp at his own folly of hubris. A curse from the Devil made him like this. Fear ran through Mars' mind at the thought of what might become of him; a shell of his former self, craving spilt blood and the hearts of anyone close enough to rob of their human lives.

To his dismay, their marks were completely identical. He took a deep breath before taking his sword out from the ground.

"I just like to know things." He sighed. "Besides, I got some answers from that. I’m trying to find a way to break this stupid curse before the worst happens."

Lucio looked at Mars incredulously. “Do you really think that you alone could break a curse from the Devil? You’re hopeless.” He shook his head. “I’ve been cursed for ages now, too long for most people to recount within a lifetime. Do you think I haven’t tried to escape my fate before? If I of all people couldn’t do it, then neither can you. Quit while you’re ahead, sweetheart, because it’s only downhill from here.”

"Hm." Mars tapped on the hilt of his sword before sheathing it, pretending to consider. "No, I don’t think I will. In fact, the more I get told to give up on this, the more I am absolutely going to find a way to fix this. Not like you can stop me from trying."

His foot tapped as he looked back up at the skylight. "Now if I could just get out of here before night, maybe I could continue on my lead..."

Lucio’s annoyance was apparent on his face from the other man continuously shutting down his disparaging remarks. He felt a twinge of envy at Mars’ unyielding resolve. How dare this absolute nobody even consider the possibility that he could break a curse from the Devil? The mere thought of the other man succeeding at this endeavor was enough to make Lucio bristle with anger. If there was even the slightest chance that someone other than he could successfully break a curse from the Devil, Lucio refused to let it happen unless he was involved in some way. He couldn’t allow someone else to succeed where he had failed time and time again.

“You know, I think I should like to see you try,” Lucio huffed. “I’d like to be there when you ultimately fail, when I can rub it in your face that I was right all along and you were too stupid to heed my advice before you wasted all that effort for nothing,” he growled, baring his teeth into a strained grin. “I can get you out of here, sure. But I’d like to see how far you go with this inane pursuit of yours until you finally give up and admit you were wrong. I think it should be pretty fun, don’t you?”

Mars considered it for a moment. Despite knowing this man was somewhat human, he shouldn't trust the words of a demon. Travelling anywhere with such a creature was all in all a bad idea, probably ensuring bad things were to come. Then again, the demon would be likely to follow regardless of his refusal.

"I don't enjoy the idea of you following me in the slightest, all things considered."

Mars closed his eyes, then opened them in his realization. He held out his right hand to him. "I'll let you follow, and if I find a way to break this curse I will help break yours as well, but only in the condition that you protect me. You are not to harm me in any way, and you won't go stealing hearts."

“You’ve got yourself a deal,” he said as he aggressively extended his arm to grab Mars’ hand.

The moment he did so, a faint red glow emanated from their contact and enveloped the both of them. “I’m sure you’ll give up before time runs out, before I need to steal another heart. I have nothing to lose. As for you,” he purred, roughly pulling Mars into closer proximity, “you really have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, do you?”


	2. The King of Vesuvia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucio tells way too much about himself, but who is surprised?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up, lots of exposition this chapter.

At first, there was nothing but light. For any normal person, such as Mars, this blinding red would be too much to bear. He wrenched his eyes shut as the back of his right hand began to burn, the feeling so intense that he hardly noticed the change; the ground beneath his feet no longer hard as stone, the chuckles of the man before him no longer echoing off their cold prison. What replaced it was soft grass and the sound of bird calls.

Mars was quick to pull away, rubbing his eyes to adjust to the change. The first thing he saw was the source of the burning: the mark of the foolish deal he had just made, glowing an eerie red before cooling black.

He stared down at it for a moment, almost trying to convince himself that it wasn’t really there. Shoving his hand in his pocket was the only compromise he could find to remedy the immediate regret.

"Before we go off to do this, I'd like to know who you are,” Mars grumbled, using his other hand to dig through his bag. "The townsfolk called you Goatman, and frankly I'm not calling you that."

“They call me _what_?” he exclaimed, jaw hung agape in disbelief. “Seriously? Of all the names they could’ve come up with, they decided on ‘Goatman?’ Wow. Just wow. Could they have gone with anything more insulting?”

Lucio, now livid at the prospect of his title being anything less than desirable, lifted his arms in exasperation and began to rant. “I mean, I get it, sometimes I have to off one or two of them every once in a while, but I’d say that makes me even more deserving of respect, don’t you?” He gave Mars a look as if in expectation for the other to agree with him. “At least you have the proper judgment to see what a bullshit name that is! When your little escapade is over, I fully expect you to march back over to that town and tell them to go back to the drawing board on deciding what to call me! And to at least spare me some dignity this time!” 

As his tirade of ‘why that name sucks’ and ‘why I deserve better’ went on, Mars found himself strangely enamoured with what Lucio had to say. The trance of his passive listening was only interrupted by his question being answered.

“You can call me Lucio, got it? And you are?”

He blinks, chuckling to himself before answering. "Yeah, Goatman is a really stupid name, but I make absolutely no promises on telling them that. My name is Mars. Lucio definitely suits you better."

Taking out a map from his bag, he began to pace. "Catyr is ways away from my lead, so we'll be on the move for about a week until we can get there. Since it’s almost sundown, trying to move on to the next town might not be the best idea, all things considered.” He nearly trips over his own feet as he works through his thinking process. “But that’ll add another day...plus I’m not sure if the people here would take too kindly to a dead man walking staying at their inn, much less the local demon travelling with him. Then again, with the poachers, and the nocturnal predators, and how cold it can get at night…”

Lucio’s lip curled at the prospect of going to the nearby town, especially since he wasn’t allowed to rip it to shreds. “As much as I’d love to make a surprise appearance, I doubt they’d be too hospitable towards you after they tried to use you as a sacrifice. So if you know where we’re going, then by all means, let’s get to it.”

Impatiently, Lucio began to usher Mars forward, mumbling with thinly veiled irritation. “If those townspeople had been competent enough to bring me a pure heart, I bet I’d be powerful enough to teleport us all the way to wherever the hell you’re trying to lead us, but I guess I need to conserve whatever remaining power I have.” He paused. “Not that I’m incapacitated in any way, I’m still more than capable of holding my own. Besides, I know I’ll get my fix soon enough once you inevitably give up and I can steal whatever hearts I want.”

Mars rolled his eyes at Lucio's insistence that he was going to fail. "Yeah, yeah, definitely, and when i give up I’ll sing you a whole ballad dedicated to how this was a dreadful waste of both of our times."

He ducked, getting out of Lucio’s push to nowhere in particular, turning back to face him.

"Now, if you're done defending your ego, I'd like to get a move on." With that said, Mars began to speed walk down the path to their next town.

Lucio followed after Mars, speeding up to maintain the same pace as him.

“So, just what is your plan anyway?” he asked. “There’s gotta be a reason why you think this curse of yours can even be lifted in the first place. Do you have the faintest idea what you’re doing? I doubt you’ve made any headway at all.” Though Lucio tried to feign indifference in his voice, it was apparent that he hoped Mars had information which could lead to him being released from his curse.

"There's a witch I'm looking for. He knows a thing or two about curses, and last I heard he lived in Vesuvia. If he doesn't have the answers I need, I'll find it in someone else." Mars kept his pace, not giving Lucio's discouraging comments the time of day. "All curses can be broken. If I can break someone else's, I can break mine."

Mars, to a fault, was sure of himself. Or at least sure enough to be convincing. Lucio had made a valid point: he didn't have a single clue as to how he'd go about breaking this curse. One couldn't tell if this set of stubbornness came from hope or spite.

The dirt path they took was sullen and quiet, no longer flooded with the sounds of bird song. Branches on the trees above them grew thick. Without the small spaces between the branches, one would assume that it was already night.

Hating the silence, Mars pressed Lucio to talk again. "So...you needed power?"

Lucio didn’t immediately answer the question. His face grew rigid in consternation and his jaw tensed as he pondered the question. “…Well. I guess I should’ve expected that you would ask eventually.” He inhaled sharply and looked down with his eyebrows furrowed, seeming almost reluctant to continue. 

“…I used to be king of Vesuvia,” he began. Mars looked up at him in shock, staring with unblinking intrigue as he pulled a notebook out from his bag.

“Almost two centuries ago now.” Lucio’s speech was stiff and disjointed, low in resonance as if he didn’t want Mars to hear. “I came into power after the…unforeseen death of my parents. And I was desperate to prove myself to the kingdom which, for some reason beyond me, was reluctant to accept my rule. So I thought, what better way to establish myself as the greatest sovereign in Vesuvian history than to expand our territory?” He chuckled humorlessly, his eyes remaining fixated on the ground as he walked.

“My parents were always too feeble-minded to consider the prospect of conquering new land despite my advocation for the venture. They always said it was in our country’s best interest to maintain civil foreign relations. But what did they know? History doesn’t remember the passive.” His voice began to rise in intensity, passion manifesting through his words. “So when I finally had the opportunity to lead Vesuvia to true greatness, I refused to waste any time in the pursuit of my goals.”

“I did everything I could within my power. I established a stronger military. I increased government spending on the development of new weaponry. I deployed regiments to conquer neighboring villages which I knew would easily succumb to my rule.” He sighed, his lip raising in disgust. “But the tricky thing about peasants is that they sometimes get their own ideas about how a kingdom should be run. I guess they took issue with my military endeavors, the brainless lot. It began with a few small protests over the course of a couple years, nothing I couldn’t handle through some arrests here and there, but I knew I would need to become more powerful if I were to maintain control over my own people. After all, how could I expect to conquer more formidable nations when my own kingdom had inner turmoil?”

“So, in my desperation I performed a ritual sacrifice and contacted the Devil. He proposed a deal: I would become more powerful in exchange for the hearts of the pure. It seemed straightforward enough at the time. As king, it wouldn’t be too difficult for me to off someone here and there for the sake of the nation. There would always be some prisoner on the brink of execution that I could steal the heart of with no repercussion. So, we made the pact, and all seemed well at first. I had the power to influence anyone’s action through a single command, and I could strike fear into a person’s heart just by looking at them.”

“With my reign over the people bolstered, I decided it was in Vesuvia’s best interest to go to war with the neighboring country of Venterre and ultimately conquer them. Our military was more than strong enough, and I was confident in my ability to successfully negotiate the terms of their surrender. As the war waged over the course of the next few months, however, I began to undergo…physical changes. I began growing horns, and hooves, and claws, and while I had the ability to revert back to my human appearance for short spans of time, this became taxing and increased my appetite for pure hearts. This meant I would have to sacrifice more people in pursuit of just a single one with a heart pure enough to satisfy my needs.”

“As the war with Venterre neared a close with Vesuvia as the victor, I knew I would need to be as powerful as possible in order to maintain my human appearance during the week-long negotiation conference with Venterre. The night before the conference, I was forced to massacre several households in search of hearts pure enough to sate me. It’s not my fault that pure hearts are difficult to come by in prisoners, and I was running out of options, so I had no choice in the matter. I wiped out an entire neighborhood that night, but of course this was a trivial sacrifice when the conquest of an entire nation was on the line.”

“Unfortunately, I suppose my absence from Vesuvia led to my influence over the people weakening, and they decided to revolt. Those traitors were blaming me for the insignificant deaths of a few people over the past few months, and I guess the most recent massacre had been their breaking point. They claimed that this was a series of systematic mass executions, and traced it back to me due to the fact that I ordered the stationing of law enforcement away from the areas on the nights of the killings. But of course I couldn’t just explain to them why some of them had to die for the greater good. Besides, any deaths I caused I could easily make up for through conquest, but I very well couldn’t just admit that I was responsible!”

“I was forced to return to Vesuvia before any agreements could be made with Venterre, as I couldn’t just allow my kingdom to tear itself apart. Peasants are absolutely barbaric without authority in place. But even with my demonic power, I was unable to reclaim control over my people, and I was forced to flee the country. I lost everything, and it’s all the fault of the Devil and his stupid pact,” he spat, staring at the marking on his hand with resentment in his eyes. “I’d give anything to take back our agreement and get some semblance of humanity back.”

Mars walked along with him, completely engaged with his long and arduous backstory. The previous king of Vesuvia, a tyrant, a murderer.

He was stuck with this guy.

All the way through Lucio's expository ramble, Mars wrote what he found to be important. If Lucio were to glance at Mars' scrawled notes, he would see the following:

" · ex king of Vesuvia

  * centuries ago?? Old
  * can command/influence people with his word
  * killed villages of people
  * regret (?)
  * not very self aware "



Mars tapped his fingers against his pen as he wrote. He was bringing an evil tyrant all the way to Vesuvia in an effort to break their curses, one who was likely very hated by the people two centuries later, and who he had to break the curse of before he needed another pure heart. Breaking his own curse was a challenge, now it would be a challenge and a headache.

"All the fault of the Devil?" Mars raised an eyebrow, not looking up from his notes. "Am I hearing you correctly?"

Lucio scoffed, looking up from the ground to glance over at Mars. “Obviously. I never would’ve agreed to his stupid pact if he’d been more explicit about the conditions of the deal. When I summoned him, I was very clear about what I wanted. I said, ‘Hey, I just want to be powerful to keep my kingdom under control,’ and he was like, ‘Uh, yeah, sure thing buddy, just gotta sacrifice a few people here and there.’ But I didn’t ask for all this bullshit!”

His voice nearly goes shrill as he aggressively gestures toward his horns. “I mean, seriously? I can’t just run a country looking like this! If anyone saw me like this, it would be obvious I made a deal with the Devil and they’d absolutely riot. They were already hesitant to accept my rule before, but this would completely destroy my image, regardless of how much power I had!” He crossed his arms, pouting. “I know I would’ve been able to rule Vesuvia properly if it weren’t for the Devil. Honestly, I never needed his power in the first place. I just wanted any advantage I could get, and there’s no fault in that.”

"Mhm..." Mars jotted more things down, stopping to look over at Lucio’s horns. Much as his town-given title would suggest, his horns stood tall and curved backwards like a goat’s would. 

Outside of the darkness of the cave, Mars could fully view him. The shredded fabric that left little to the imagination now resembled the remnants of riches: velvet long-since matted, and fine white pants long-since ruined by dried blood. Then, there was his face. It wasn’t a far stretch of the imagination to see him as a king. If he looked just slightly more human, Mars could imagine those handsome features charming their way to royalty.

_Handsome_. The word was written faster than he’d like to admit. Mars was quick to cross it out.

"Hmm. Why were your people so hesitant about your rule?" Mars asked, his attempt to bury his shame with knowledge being his only saving grace.

“I don’t know!” Lucio exclaimed in bafflement, swinging his arms out for emphasis and almost thwacking Mars in the face in the process, Mars thankfully being fast enough to avoid his arm entirely.

Lucio was much too engrossed in his rant to notice. “I guess they were just too used to my parents being in charge, but really, I don’t get what the big deal was. I mean, sure, I guess they ruled for what? Forty years maybe? But like, in the grand scheme of things, that’s basically nothing, especially when they refused to get anything done! So when my parents were finally out of the way, I didn’t understand why everyone was so upset! Apparently, peasants can’t handle change very well, even if it’s for their own benefit. They had years to get over it, but no, they were all just stuck in their old ways and refused to move on and get with the times!”

Seeing Lucio get riled up in such a performative way was such a contrast with how unbelievably terrifying he was before. Mars couldn’t help but be amused.

It was a mystery how someone who could talk so much be stuck in a cave like that for so long. 

"Many people don't handle change very well." Mars jotted something else down as he spoke. "I'm assuming you can do it just fine, living in a cave after being a king." He prodded him as if poking him with a stick, looking to see what buttons he could push before going too far.

“Hey, it’s not like I had anywhere else to go!” he retorted defensively, momentarily glaring at Mars. “When an angry mob is storming your palace you very well can’t just waltz in, pick up your life savings, and go. I tried my best to get them back under control, but it was me against hundreds of people! Nobody could’ve pulled that off! In my struggle to force them back into submission, I grew too weak to conceal my demon form. With my cover blown I couldn’t have continued ruling anyway, so I was forced to leave with absolutely nothing.”

Seeing that Mars got Lucio to give another expository ramble, he began to write again.

“I very well couldn’t just stay in Vesuvia. Even outside the kingdom, it would be a risk to show my face at all! So for days I traveled as far as I could from Vesuvia, on the brink of death, until I found a small settlement. Desperate for survival, I was forced to kill its residents, and I ended up living there without human contact for months. Of course, I would need to feed again eventually, so I was forced to travel endlessly, uncertain of whether or not I would even find another civilization at all.”

“After several years, I grew tired of this way of living, fearing for my life every time I needed to feed. That’s when I came up with the brilliant idea of preying on a single town without having to kill the entire lot of them. It would be so much easier for everyone involved! If they could just bring me a pure-hearted sacrifice once every few months, I wouldn’t have to waste my efforts killing them en masse in hopes that even one of them would have a heart pure enough to sate me. So their lives would be spared for the most part, and I would finally have some security. That’s basically a win-win. Unfortunately, the housing was a downgrade for me since I couldn’t just kill someone and move into their dwelling like I used to, so I had to settle for some dingy cave on the outskirts of town.”

It was at this point that Lucio finally noticed that Mars had been taking notes the entire time, as he had been too thoroughly immersed in his own ramblings to actually pay attention to the other man. “What the hell are you writing?”

At this point, Mars was able to fill an entire page worth of notes on Lucio. 

"· easy to rile up

  * still hasn't noticed me writing
  * dead parents (cause unknown, ask later)
  * used to travel for hearts
  * first time actually talking to someone in a while probably
  * Vesuvia knows he's a demon
  * fuck i have to go there
  * get him hat and cloak later "



Lucio craned his neck to get a better look at Mars’ notebook, but was unable to discern anything before it was shut. Mars held it away as an added measure of privacy.

"Nothing of consequence." Mars said, defensively. The defense dropped as quick as it started as he tried to get Lucio to rant again. "I'm surprised the villagers didn’t attempt to give you a nice house in an effort to appease you. Seems odd."

Lucio opened his mouth to press the issue, but was interrupted by Mars changing the subject. He seemed offended at Mars’ insinuation that the villagers didn’t think highly enough of him to offer him a better shelter. “Well, don’t be stupid, it’s because they‘re…they’re too afraid of me, obviously!” he argued falteringly. “I’m sure they would have given me something if they weren’t such cowards!” He paused for a second, glowering at Mars. “Oh! Oh, and,” he added, his voice raising in pitch as he continued defensively, “I bet they couldn’t even afford it anyway! You saw their town, it’s a run-down mess. They can’t even afford to house themselves properly.” 

He looked over Mars’ outfit and scoffed, smiling vindictively. “And by the looks of what you’re wearing, I wouldn’t doubt it if you’re more poor than they are, so I don’t know why you’re so surprised. I bet you don’t even have a home if you’re wandering all the way to the middle of nowhere for the validation of a few worthless peasants whose repayment to you was abandoning you in a cave to get your heart ripped out. What a shame.”

Mars stopped in place. For the first time in this entire one-sided conversation, Lucio had actually struck a chord.

He reopened his notebook and jotted one last thing down before putting it away. Mars began walking ahead of him, not giving him a response.

There was a crack in that unyielding resolve of his. How long would it be until it broke?

Lucio began walking faster in an attempt to catch up with Mars who managed to remain one step ahead. Lucio laughed smugly, satisfied that he’d finally managed to provoke some kind of reaction out of Mars, even though it was less expressive than he’d hoped. “Hey, what’s wrong with you? We were having such a lovely conversation!” After about a minute of trying to keep up with Mars, he finally gave up, now lagging a few paces behind him.

“And we were just starting to get to know each other too,” he sighed dramatically. “It’s a pity, really. And here I was, foolish me, thinking we were friends. You wound me, Mars, you really do.”

There was a few seconds of silence between them. “You know,” he continued, refusing to shut up, “it’s kind of funny when you think about it. You were so desperate to prove yourself to literally anyone you came across. You were actually willing to risk your life for a bunch of idiots who couldn’t care less about you in return!” he remarked with stifled laughter, Mars seething in silence as he refused to look at him. “I think it’s safe to say that you have absolutely nobody but yourself and, I hate to say it, you aren’t worth much at all. And yet when you’re finally bound to me, likely the only person of any significance to ever grace your presence, you decide to give me the silent treatment? Honestly, quite rude if you ask me. I know you’re uncultured, being a peasant and all, but you should at least show some manners! I know I shouldn’t expect that much from you, but—“

Mars took one of the daggers from his belt and threw it. It landed in a tree right next to Lucio's head, so close that it cut a single strand of hair.

"Don't assume anything about me. You don't know anything. I want to keep it that way."

With that said, Mars silently tugged his dagger free and walked ahead.

Lucio remained frozen in place, still processing what had just happened. It wasn’t until Mars had resumed walking that Lucio regained his composure and scrambled to catch up, making sure to remain a few feet behind as to avoid becoming the target of Mars’ ire. While Lucio could probably survive a knife to the head, he decided that the satisfaction of riling up Mars wasn’t worth the excruciating pain, and thus resigned himself to a begrudgingly quiet disposition. He made a mental note to himself not to antagonize Mars when he had a knife on his person, especially since Lucio contractually couldn’t fight back.

The two had walked for a little over an hour before Lucio hesitantly spoke up again, having grown weary of the silence. “…So, um…do you know how much farther this witch’s place is?”

"He lives in Vesuvia, it'll be a week's travel if we stay on track." Mars explained. From their hour of silence, he seemed to cool down. Still, the response was dry enough for Lucio to be able to tell that he was actively trying to ignore him.

The sun had set. Mars snapped his fingers, a light appearing in the palm of his hand.

"We should at least be getting close to town. I'll have to take up an off job in the morning since I'm almost out of money. You don't have to help and frankly I don't want you to, but if you have to, try and keep as many people from seeing you as possible. It'll be a mess if word gets out that a heart-stealing demon is out of his cave."

“Well, we better run into this town soon because I’m tired of walking,” Lucio grumbled. “I hope you’ve been leading us in the right direction because I don’t know how much more of this I can take without losing my mind.” He let out an exasperated sigh. “This is so boring. And that’s coming from someone who lives alone in a cave for days on end.” He rubbed his face with his hands, then looked back up at Mars. “Do you even have enough money to afford a place to stay for the night?” he asked drowsily, before quickly adding in a slight panic, “Not because you’re poor or anything. Just, uh, just making sure we won’t have to, you know, camp out or anything.”

"I have been, I have." Mars kept his pace. With the shallow light illuminating his face, Lucio could tell that he was growing tired too. "I have enough money for a room. You really don’t need to dance around what my social class is, y’know."

Mars stopped in his tracks. He could hear the trotting of horses, the speaking of men, and the pull of a carriage just up ahead. Panicking, he began to push Lucio into the foliage.

"Don't come out unless I’m in trouble." His panicked voice was hushed. Any protests Lucio may have wanted to voice were quickly silenced by the brief press of Mars’ finger against his lips.

By all means, Lucio wanted to protest against being shoved into the bushes, finding the whole ordeal to be beneath his dignity. He wisely decided to shut up for once. Trying to remain as still as possible, Lucio peered through the foliage and watched as Mars retreated into the darkness. It took all the self-restraint he had not to ask Mars what the hell he was doing.

_I don’t care what happens to him_ , Lucio tried to convince himself as he strained to see where Mars had gone. _I’ll just be mad if this idiot gets himself killed after I wasted hours following him to god knows where_ , he justified, because obviously Mars’ well-being was none of his concern.

Mars made sure not to stray far from Lucio's hiding spot. Hopefully, the carriage would just pass and ignore a stranger in the road. Best case scenario, they could even catch a ride.

Life with Mars was never the best case scenario.

The carriage stopped next to Mars, the driver of it peering down at him.

"Evening." Mars greeted the stranger. "Do you need something?"

The driver chuckled, eyeing the light in Mars' hand. "A magic user, huh? Thats pretty rare nowadays."

Mars immediately did not enjoy where this was going. He began to back away. The door of the carriage opened, two men stepping out. It was just Mars' brand of unlucky to immediately run into poachers, as well as Mars’ brand of foolish to forget the light in his hand.

Lucio could hear the sound of Mars' sword being drawn before being swiftly dropped, the thud of his body hitting the ground following soon after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I woke up to six paragraphs worth of Lucio just straight up monologuing, thx Eric.


	3. Poachers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucio upholds his end of the deal for contractual reasons. He promises.

Magic had always been a fickle thing. Though it had been two centuries since Lucio had been aware of the world’s turmoil, this fact remained relevant. Magic users were a great asset. They could manipulate the way the world worked with their connection to the arcane, able to heal, able to fight with extra tenacity, able to advance weaponry and common household items.

Magic users being useful in the sense that they could be useful to others came with its downsides, especially seeing as magic users were also people.

It was only a few decades after the abrupt end of Lucio’s rule when some people realized how they could benefit from magic users. Instead of kindly asking for the assistance of these people, they decided to abduct whoever they could and sell them off. Thus, it became common practice for magic users to hide themselves away, never allowing their powers to be seen by poachers who wished to abduct them too.

And Mars forgot to put out his light. Fucking hell.

Lucio immediately leapt from the underbrush and raced toward the carriage to see Mars’ unconscious body being hauled by one of the men. The sight filled him with rage, and Lucio had to once again remind himself that he didn’t actually care.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” he growled curtly, his entire being beginning to glow a faint red from the magnitude of his rage, “but this man you so considerately knocked out isn’t yours to take.” From a distance of about twenty feet, Lucio began to approach with deliberate steps, his eyes scanning between the three poachers. “If you value your lives at all, you’d best hand him over or I won’t hesitate to tear you all to shreds. This man belongs to me, and I don’t take too kindly to thieves.”

One of the men, likely the driver, scoffed at Lucio's arrogance. He failed to heed the warning of the searing red glow emanating from him. He snapped his fingers at the two scoundrels next to him. The one who had Mars slung over his shoulder placed him next to the carriage.

"So, the witch has a boyfriend." The driver gave the others a smug look, the two taking out their weapons. "A magic one too. They'll do swell on the market."

Lucio’s eyes narrowed with hatred. His head snapped to face the driver when he spoke, and his insinuation that Lucio and Mars were romantically involved was enough to make him overcome with unbridled fury.

“So you’ve made your choice then,” he snarled, forcing his lips into a hostile grin, “and I’m more than happy to oblige!”

He bolted toward the driver at full speed, rearing his arm back and aiming to tear at the man’s chest with incandescent claws.

The moment he did, Lucio could see the driver's eyes fill with terror. His light leather armor as well as everything under it sliced like hot butter beneath the mercy of his claws, the scent of burning flesh filling the air.

He screamed, blood curdling, loud enough to scare any uninvolved creatures away from the road lit only by Lucio's wrath.

The other two did not wait. One of them dug their short sword into Lucio's leg while the other wrapped a chain around his neck, pulling it taut.

Lucio cried out in pain as the blade sunk into his flesh. He drew his claws up to the chain which tightened against his throat and grabbed it firmly. The glow from his hands increased with violent intensity, and he maintained hold for a few seconds as he struggled against the two assailants. The chain’s durability weakened as a result of the searing heat, and Lucio was able to break in half.

It was at this point that the short sword was painfully seized from Lucio’s leg. He spun around to face the two poachers and stumbled backwards, flinching when he put weight on his wounded leg. Wasting no time, however, he set his target on the man wielding the sword and raced forward, aiming his claws at the man’s neck and hoping his adversary wouldn’t have time to defend himself.

His attention now on the man with the short sword, he failed to notice the driver brandishing his weapon: a whip, usually saved for the command of steeds. With his whip, he brought it forth with a loud _crack_. It wrapped around Lucio's wounded leg and tugged him back. This was not before Lucio could reach the man with the sword, however. The backwards pull of the whip caused Lucio to rip out the other man’s throat.

The horses, long-since forgotten in the fray, were startled by the sound of the cracking whip. They reared back onto their hind legs and ran, dragging the carriage along with them. Both remaining poachers stared wide-eyed as their ride ran off into the darkness of the night. Shock quickly turned to anger as their renewed rage already had a target in mind.

They failed to realize the loss of the carriage meant the lack of support on Mars’ unconscious body, the sudden impact of his head against the ground waking him.

Lucio, brought to one knee from the whip, gave it a sharp tug with his flesh hand and reared back his clawed one, only for it to be restrained by chains. The man holding them tugged downward as the driver regained his composure. With one increasing the amount of chains holding him in place and the other raining lash upon lash upon his back, the teeth-gritting pain as well as the humiliating situation made his attempts at escape sloppier. Lucio snarled and bit and tugged and swiped, anything to free himself from the chains.

It seemed as though his enraged prayers were answered as both the chains and the man holding them fell limp. A dagger stood proudly in the hollow of his neck.

Mars leapt onto the drivers back, dagger ready to plunge into him as well. The driver let go of the whip to hold his wrists, keeping the stilted point of the weapon away from his already lacerated flesh. Spinning, cussing, shaking, he tried to get Mars off of him to no avail. Mars clung with his legs locked around the man’s waist.

The driver backed into a tree with his full weight, knocking the air out of Mars and slamming him onto the ground by his wrists. He grabbed Mars by his neck with a tight squeeze.

“I’m gonna make sure they put a muzzle on you and that monster!” He snarled, digging his nails into the man beneath him.

Mars grit his teeth, grabbing onto his hand to try and pry it off. His eyes looked from him, then up, and back to him, an idea forming within a second. He reared his legs back and kicked out towards his chest. The driver was thrown forward and knocked prone, blurred vision struggling to focus on what would be the last thing he saw.

Lucio stood over him. The fury was clear on his face and even clearer on his arm, pulsating a searing heat that could burn from where the driver lay. In one swift dive of his arm, the man was dead.

There was a moment, maybe two, maybe three, during which the two remained in place. The only sound was their ragged breathing. Lucio and Mars were now soaked with blood, both their own and of the men who caused this.

When the final moment passed, Mars stood back up and ran to Lucio’s side, inspecting his wounds and holding onto his arm to keep himself steady. “Oh my god…” he gasped. “Oh my god, are you okay?! Oh, this looks terrible, I need to fix this.”

“Oh, I’m just fine!” Lucio bluffed, though his forced grin more closely resembled a grimace. “This is nothing. Let’s just…dispose of the bodies and get going. Hopefully there’s a ditch or something we can just toss them in because I don’t have the patience to wait for you to bury them. I doubt anyone’s going around looking for them anyway. What with this shady business operation they’re running, I’m sure they’ve kept their activity on the low.”

Lucio brushed Mars’ arm away dismissively and limped away from him to hoist one of the bodies, wincing as he did so. “We’d better hurry up before anyone shows up and declares you a murderer,” he bit out through grit teeth. “I’ll kill a few witnesses if I have to, but I won’t be too happy about that. I’m fucking exhausted.”

Mars grumbled to himself for a moment, then sighed. "We hide the bodies, then you need to sit for a moment. Please."

He ended his insistence at that simple _please_ , retrieving his dagger from one of the bodies and slinging it over his shoulder. To Lucio's amusement the body was completely dead weight that made Mars stumble back.

To make up for the embarrassment, Mars dragged along the last remaining body as well.

A small cave opening was tucked away near the bottom of a nearby cliff. The two dumped the bodies there, where it thankful wouldn't be easy to find them. Mars peered down, staring at what remained of the men who tried to steal him. He grit his teeth and spat before he turned away.

"Motherfuckers…"

“What the hell did those guys want with you in the first place?” Lucio asked, turning along with Mars to walk back toward the road. Each step he took was labored, the pain clear on his face, but he refused to slow down out of sheer determination to get to the next town as soon as possible. “The one man said something about selling you on the market? I’m assuming because you’re magic, but I couldn’t quite get much information while I was busy fighting to the death.”

"Bastards, fucking poachers." Mars offered Lucio his arm, though he knew it would likely be refused. "They kidnap anyone with even a drop of magic in their bodies, sell them off for resources and labor.”

Mars took to more drastic measures and took a step in front of him. "Please sit, let me help you."

Lucio let out a bark of laughter, giving Mars an incredulous look. “I don’t need help!” he defended, pushing Mars aside as he continued walking. “What I need is to get out of this forest, and stopping isn’t going to help with that, now is it? And you were literally almost abducted! Not that it’s any of my concern, but I’d think you of all people would want to waste no time getting back to civilization.”

Lucio nearly lost his footing as he stumbled over an exposed tree root, but was able to stabilize himself in spite of the pain.

"Not the first time, I'm fine, just—" Mars caught up to him, grabbing onto his shoulder and lightly tugging him. "For fuck’s sake, just let me heal you, you'll be able to move faster if I do."

Lucio was loath to admit any weakness, but he couldn’t deny the fact that he was in less than ideal condition to defend himself or Mars if another confrontation arose. He took in a sharp breath and shot Mars a scornful glare, but he knew it wouldn’t be wise to reject Mars’ demand. After a few seconds of considering his options, he finally conceded, letting out an aggravated sigh. 

“Fine!” he snapped, crossing his arms. “Only because it’ll get you to shut up. Just make it quick, okay?”

Mars nodded, ushering him to sit down.

Now sitting next to him, he took his Devil-marked hand and pressed it to Lucio's chest. In his head he hoped and prayed that he wouldn't go too far in healing him that he’d pass out, but the mark had no such plans in ever taking things easy on him. It sparked, glowing a red the same shade as Lucio’s cursed arm, though cold in contrast to its heat. There was a flash in the night as Mars healed him.

When darkness returned, the wounds were gone, as if never there. No lingering pain beyond Mars' short flash of light.

Lucio felt all his senses go numb as he briefly fell unconscious, collapsing against Mars’ shoulder. Within the span of a minute, however, Lucio’s body began to shift as he slowly regained consciousness, mumbling incoherently as he weakly propped his head up. It took him another minute to process what had just happened, his mind still foggy from the effects of Mars’ magic. He stretched out his back, noting that his injuries had been healed.

Finally able to manage a sentence, he muttered, “Can we go now?” He went to stand, but immediately collapsed back into Mars as his legs were still numb.

Mars scrambled to keep him standing, mind still fuzzy from the sudden magic expelled from his body.

"Not again, shit." Mars mumbled. His resolve returned as he strode with heavy footsteps back to the road. The path they returned to was empty, not looking much like the path they left behind. They could see the small town of Broogsberg the moment they breached the end of the woods.

"…I need to thank you. For rescuing me, I mean." Mars said this, almost as if he was struggling to get it out. "I know you're contractually required to, but it was…" He stopped himself and sighed. "Just, thank you."

“It was nothing,” Lucio responded coldly. “Don’t even mention it.” Lucio almost felt ashamed of himself for having defended Mars, considering the act to be beneath him. He’d never fought like that for another person before, so the experience was entirely foreign to him. In retrospect, he found it strange that he had so willingly thrown himself into combat for a man he obviously cared nothing about, but in the moment he had been so overcome with blind fury on behalf of Mars’ mistreatment that it hadn’t even crossed his mind. _I just did it to uphold the contract_ , he assured himself, _nothing more._

Lucio almost considered thanking Mars in return for having helped him fight and healing him afterward, but decided against it. He already felt demeaned for having accepted help in the first place, and his pride refused to let him express any gratitude. “You can thank me by getting us a place to stay.”

When they got to the inn, Mars held up his hand to tell Lucio to wait outside.

"We don't want to scare the innkeeper, I'll be out in a second."

As promised, he was. Mars spun the key of their room around on his finger. Always the unlucky sort, it immediately hit him in the face.

Lucio’s cold expression momentarily faltered and he forced himself to stifle a laugh. “Finally,” he said, trying and failing to sound cross. “Let’s get to the room, I’m this close to passing out.”

Making sure no one was around to see them, Mars and Lucio found their room and quickly entered, shutting the door behind them. Lucio assessed the state of his attire. Though already torn and bloodied from years of wear, the fresh blood soaked into the shreds of his cape clung sickeningly to his skin.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any clothes I can borrow, would you?” he inquired groggily. “I refuse to sleep in this.”

Mars pulled a linen dress shirt out from his bag, neither incredibly fancy or tattered. "It’s my last clean shirt. Don't make me regret giving it to you."

In the small mirror hung across the single bed in the room, Mars assessed all the fine injuries he had gathered. He removed the heavy cloak, as well as the matching red tunic he wore, leaving only the thin mock gambeson on him. Tugging down its collar revealed the myriad of bruises left on his neck.

Mars seemed almost satisfied with the injuries. 

"I'll be getting up early, so don’t be too alarmed if I'm gone when you wake up." Kicking off his boots, Mars threw himself onto the bed and stretched out his sore body.

Lucio quickly changed out of his battered clothing in the corner of the room and slipped on the shirt Mars had lent him, immediately ripping a hole in it when it got caught on one of his horns. Lucio hoped Mars wouldn’t notice. 

He proceeded to walk over to the bed and get under the covers, making sure to lie as close to the edge of the mattress as possible with his back turned to Mars. “Okay, whatever,” he mumbled in response, falling asleep soon after.

"Goodnight, Lucio." Mars stared up at the ceiling, reflecting on the events of the day.

Getting sacrificed, recruiting a demon, almost getting abducted, all in one day. He had known the curse was worsening each passing day, yet he did not know if his alliance with Lucio would take him very far if he wasn't more careful.

An alliance that could very well lead himself or others to their doom.

Still, he kept his hope. If he was able to survive today, he could survive tomorrow.

His eyes shut and his breath eased, and he fell into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter this time BUT y'all got 1 a fight and 2 a little bit of gay. As a treat. I'd say that makes up for it


	4. All Due Respect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mars takes an off job and ends up regretting it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the chapter that made me change the rating. Have fun! 
> 
> Rated M for mentioned sex work and dick sucking <3

Mars awoke as the sun rose. The warm rays of a single sunspot paired with the gentle press of a body next to him almost convinced his sleep-hazed mind that he was safe, back home with his family and the company of a kind stranger.

This wasn't home. The reality of who he was spooning hit him like a ton of bricks and shattered the daydreams of someone on their lonesome. Not completely, though, seeing as Mars was no longer alone.

He almost didn't want to leave. For a moment, he could trick himself into thinking he was wanted here, maybe even needed here. 

It was only a trick, though.

Mars got up quickly. This wasn’t safe and Lucio wasn't some kind stranger he invited into his bed.

Putting his tunic, cloak, and bag back on, he left to find himself some work.

Lucio awoke about an hour after Mars left. He took a quick glance from the bed to the rest of the room, concluding that he was gone. 

He lay back down and curled up under the sheets. It had been ages since he’d slept in an actual bed, the inn’s cheap mattress feeling reminiscent of the lush cushions he took for granted in his time as king. With Mars gone, he took it upon himself to gather up the linen comforter, twisting and adjusting until he was completely bundled up. Lucio drank up any bit of normal he could manage.

Lucio passed the time alternating between pacing the room and lying in bed, staring into space. Leaving the room wasn’t much of an option. While he could temporarily revert back to his human appearance if he so desired, he knew this would be a waste of his power, especially for something as trivial as alleviating boredom.

It was about three hours before Mars came back. The normal air of irritation was different from what Lucio had grown surprisingly accustomed to. A cloak, dress shirt, and hat were quickly placed on the bed. Lucio was able to catch a glimpse of new gloves on Mars before he turned away.

Without a word, Mars stormed into the bathroom. Lucio could hear the sound of a cheap water pump running from behind the door.

Lucio immediately noticed Mars’ silent demeanor. Mars had barely acknowledged Lucio’s presence upon entering the room, which irked him to some degree, though the new clothes compensated for any slights Mars had inadvertently caused.

“A ‘hello’ would’ve been nice, but I digress,” he called out from the bed. He got up and approached the bathroom door to annoy Mars. “Come on, just tell me about your day!” he goaded. 

The only response he was given was the sound of Mars spitting out water into the sink.

“I’ve been struck in here for hours, and you can’t even— Oh my god, did you blow someone?” 

From the inside of the bathroom, Lucio could hear Mars choke on the water, his coughing made louder by the echo of the room. 

In less than a second, Mars slammed open the door. He looked obviously livid at the comment. 

Face red, he warned him. "Don't."

“Okay, okay!” Lucio responded in a small voice, holding back laughter. “No judgment, I guess.” 

For once making the wise decision of giving Mars a bit of space, he went back over to the bed. The clothes he was given were incredibly well made, made to last and impress those who saw the wearer.

Mars blew a nobleman.

Lucio wasn't wise enough to stop talking. “I just didn’t know you had it in you,” he whispered at Mars loudly as he walked past. He picked up the cloak from the bed and regarded its fine quality. “But if it’s making you enough money to afford this, then by all means, keep at it,” he quietly gibed.

Mars reached into his bag and took out his notebook. He wrote something down, so harsh he was sure he ripped paper.

"I don't want to talk about it, stop." Mars snapped back at him. "Just get dressed so we can leave."

With that, he turned back around, refusing to acknowledge him again as he moved to sit by the door.

Lucio looked from Mars to his notebook, eyebrows furrowing in irritation. “Fine,” he huffed, setting the cloak back down onto the bed, “I’ll let it go if you tell me what you’ve been writing in that stupid notebook.” 

He pulled off the linen dress shirt that Mars had lent him and slipped on the new one in its place. “You’ll look at me all pissed off like and just whip out your notebook to talk shit about me, and that’s starting to piss ME off,” he ranted as he began to put on the cloak. “If you have something to say about me, just say it to my face. I’ve been doing all the talking, and what have you given me? Nothing! You’ve given me nothing except the fact that you’ve been silently judging me this entire time.” He slipped on the hat and walked over to Mars who was sitting by the door. 

“Also, this shirt is ripped,” he said, throwing Mars’ shirt into his face. “Maybe you should take better care of your clothes.”

Mars suppresses a wounded look, holding onto his notebook with his nails digging in. He stands, deciding to brandish his anger instead.

"I’m sorry, I don’t recall you caring to fucking ask about me or my opinion on anything." Mars taps his finger against the hard cover of it. "Not like you’d listen. Why should I waste my breath on someone like you."

His words begin to pool out much too fast to stop. "I’m sorry that I don’t want to share my thoughts with some prick who could honestly care less! I already know how it's gonna turn out. I will always somehow be wrong, and told to shut up. I don't need you to confirm that for me!"

“Well, maybe you should stop being so sensitive, then!” Lucio snapped. “It’s not that hard to just speak up for yourself instead of hiding away in that stupid little notebook of yours! If you’re really so worked up over some harmless comments that you have to write down some bullshit about me, I have the right to know what you’re saying! Maybe I wouldn’t have to insult you so much if you would just show me what the hell you’re writing! It’s pretty damn hard to respect someone when they’re constantly being passive aggressive against you!”

Mars' face grew redder with every word that left Lucio’s mouth. He grit his teeth, clenched his fist, ready to absolutely let him have it.

Instead, he took a deep breath. The red faded from his face and the anger cooled in his eyes.

"I'm getting too angry," he sighed. To Lucio's surprise, Mars handed him the notebook. "I'm gonna go outside for a few. If I’m not back in 30 minutes, feel free to look for me. I won't go far."

With that, he left the room.

Lucio watched in stunned silence as Mars left, his sudden change in demeanor having caught him off guard. After a few long seconds of processing the situation, Lucio sighed and walked over to sit on the bed as he flipped open the notebook.

The first thing he noticed were the sketches. There was a very well-drawn sketch of Lucio's face paired with several bad doodles of him wearing different hats. Next to these sketches were several notes listing observations on him, his backstory, and pros and cons in regards to the several hats.

Among the notes, nothing stood out as him explicitly badmouthing him. At worst, it sounded like teasing. The scribbles of his most recent note were just that: scribbles. There was a single sentence at the bottom of the scribbles.

"I'm having a bad day."

Lucio spent several minutes flipping through the notebook, surprised to find that Mars hadn’t, in fact, been insulting him behind his back the entire time. “…I am such an idiot,” he muttered, running his hand over his face as he stared at the last page.

Lucio was finding it increasingly difficult to suppress the feeling of guilt over having lashed out at Mars over nothing. ‘ _No, stop it,’_ he told himself. ‘ _It’s his fault for not just showing you the notebook in the first place. You got angry over nothing because of him, and he should’ve seen it coming._ ’

Lucio flipped back to Mars’ sketch of him. He was honestly impressed by Mars’ artistic ability, and he couldn’t deny that he was flattered, even if the sketch was just for note-taking purposes. He groaned into his palm. “Ugh, stop making me feel bad.” He wasn’t sure whether to be amused or embarrassed by Mars’ sketches of his potential hat options, but at least Mars was only trying to look out for him and— 

‘ _Shut up. He doesn’t care about you, he just doesn’t want to be seen with a demon. Okay_?’

“Okay,” he breathed out, shutting the notebook and falling back onto the bed. He really didn’t want to see Mars right now, but he forced himself to get up after about a minute of staring at the ceiling. He adjusted his hat before exiting the room, and began looking around to find where Mars had gone.

It wasn't hard to figure out where Mars went.

As promised, he didn't go very far. The only thing that made it obvious as to where he was was the fact that rocks were being tossed off the roof.

There Mars was. He had somehow managed to climb all the way to the roof of the inn, which did not seem like a simple task. Next to him was a pile of rocks he gathered in order to see how far he could throw them.

He was about to toss another before he saw Lucio.

"That was quick," he commented before sitting down. "Should I come down or should you come up?"

Lucio blinked. “How the hell did you get up there…?” He glanced around, trying to figure out a way to climb onto the roof. Upon finding nothing, he decided it wouldn’t be worth the time, effort, and inevitable failure.

“Whatever. I’d get up there too but, uh, I’m carrying your book right now, and it would probably get damaged. Or something. Which I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t want.” He held out the notebook and sighed. “Come on, you can have it back.”

Mars took a few steps back before leaping off the roof and landing on his feet. It wasn't a very graceful landing, seeing as he stumbled and almost fell flat on his face before regaining his posture. 

He gave a small smile before gingerly taking back the notebook. "Thank you."

Mars took note of how the hat looked on Lucio and nodded to himself. "Looks good. Let's go get something to eat, I'm starved."

Looking to be in a much better mood, or looking to be very good at faking a better mood, he walked ahead of Lucio.

Lucio was disconcerted with Mars’ stark change in demeanor. He considered mentioning it, but ultimately decided not to take that risk. Although he was relieved that Mars wasn’t outwardly angry at him, it was unfathomable to him that someone could calm down from an outburst like that so suddenly. Lucio followed Mars, almost afraid to look at him. He had no idea how this other man’s brain worked, and he wasn’t planning on trying Mars’ patience even further than he already had.

“Hey, um, Mars,” he started, averting his eyes to stare intensely at the path in front of him. “I just…I just want to say, that, um, I…” His speech was disjointed and awkward, and his eyebrows were furrowed. “I’m s…” He let out a frustrated sigh. “I’m just wondering where we’re going to eat,” he muttered. “Did you find a place nearby or something?”

"I passed by a tavern while I was out," Mars explained. "The food didn't look all too good but i didn't get to eat breakfast."

Mars, of course, was still absolutely pissed. Much like everything else in his life though, he saw no real reason to talk about it anymore.

Before they entered an area with people in it, Mars stopped and turned. "Your eyes...." He pauses. "I think I have a spell for that."

“Oh shit, I forgot about that,” Lucio blurted out. He lowered his head a little bit and glanced around discretely to make sure no one had noticed his eyes. “Alright, if you know a spell that’ll alter my eyes or something, go ahead,” he muttered. “I could do it myself, but if you expect me to keep protecting you I’m gonna need to conserve whatever energy I can, so…” 

He paused. “It’s not gonna hurt or anything, is it? I hope you’ve done this kind of thing before, because I won’t be too happy if you, I don’t know, misfire and end up blinding me or something.”

To reassure him, he waved his hand in front of his own eyes. His eyes once honey colored were now a vibrant yellow, looking reptilian in shape. With another wave, the illusion was gone.

"It's completely painless, all you have to do is not touch your eyes." 

Mars reached up to cast the spell but stops. "Do you want to keep the markings too? Any preferences?"

“Well, I guess if we’re trying to stay undercover, you should probably conceal the markings too,” Lucio muttered. “It’s not gonna help us get to Vesuvia any faster if we draw unnecessary suspicion. If anyone recognized them as the Devil’s markings, we might have some issues.” He crossed his arms with a huff. “I mean, personally,” he added with a subtle grin, “I think the markings are a look, but we should probably prioritize survival over making a dramatic statement.”

Mars nodded. "Alright, then try not to touch those either."

Waving his hand across Lucio's face, Mars decided a light silver suited his eye color the most. He took out a small mirror from his bag and brought it to his face.

"What do you think?"

Lucio nodded as he inspected his face in the mirror, finding Mars’ illusion to be entirely convincing. “Wow,” he remarked as he continued to study his reflection. “I’m actually impressed. I didn’t think you’d be able to pull it off this well.” He smirked and glanced back over at Mars. “Why’d you even learn a spell like this in the first place? I mean, of course, I’m not complaining, but I don’t think most people feel the need to disguise themselves so badly that they decide to bring magic into it.”

Mars flushed for a moment at the unexpected half-compliment before quickly turning away.

"I— Uhm—" he sputtered, pausing to regain composure. "I used to dabble in performance"

The lie was quite obvious, Mars internally berating himself for his terrible attempt to hide what he actually knew disguise magic for.

Lucio narrowed his eyes at Mars suspiciously. 

“Oh? Performance, huh? You know, I never would’ve pegged you as a performer.” Lucio could tell from Mars’ response that he was concealing the truth, which only served to pique his curiosity. “And just why would a performer decide to switch paths and become, you know, a monster slayer?” he snickered with an almost menacing tone to his voice. “Doesn’t seem like the skills would transfer over so well, but here you are.”

After a brief moment, Lucio’s snide grin fell and he averted his eyes almost apologetically as he realized he was on the verge of interrogating this man who had helped him out not even a minute before. “But it’s no matter. Let’s just, um, get to that tavern you were talking about.”

There was a long silence between them when they began walking again. Mars didn't attempt to defend himself this time. The lie sucked, very very badly, and Lucio was completely right. The skill set didn't translate well, he couldn't even do minor performance spells without them blowing up in his face.

"I used to shoplift," he confessed quietly. "It made it easier to go to the same place multiple times if the people there didn't know me."

Mars looked genuinely embarrassed as he revealed this, not looking Lucio in the eye a single time.

Lucio had to restrain himself from voicing any disparaging remarks which came to his mind. For a few long seconds, he tried to formulate a response which he hoped Mars wouldn’t construe as offensive. 

“What, you were THAT poor?” he finally settled with, cringing the moment the comment left his mouth. “I mean— Well, yeah, I knew that you were…you know—“ his voice gradually lowered in volume as he rambled, “—poor and all, but—” He stared hard at the ground as he continued to walk restlessly. “Um, scratch that,” he said, shaking his head. “I just meant that…” He sighed. “I don’t know, I just didn’t know your life was that bad that you had to learn magic to keep up with your constant stealing. I mean, obviously I already knew your life was shit, otherwise you wouldn’t be in this whole situation in the first place,” he said, laughing uncomfortably and looking like he wanted to disappear. “Um, well…sounds like it must’ve been hard for you, I guess.”

Mars pinched the bridge of his nose as Lucio continued to shove his foot further and further into his mouth.

They entered the tavern. It wasn't very busy given the time of day, so the two were able to pick out a booth in the back. 

"Okay first off," Mars began, trying to keep his voice down. "Lets stop with the assumptions. I wasn't so poor that theft was a part of my survival. I know you're trying not to step on my toes about my class level, which I... _appreciate_ , so let me explain one whole thing to you: I'm not wealthy, but I'm not so poor I can barely eat. I stole because I was an asshole teenager at some point and booking it from security wasn't ideal."

Lucio let out a sheepish laugh. “That’s dedication, I guess,” he said with a shrug as he leaned back in his seat. “Can’t fault that. Besides, it wound up working out for you in the end. It doesn’t matter why you learned magic in the first place as long as it’s helping us now.”

He paused, then snickered. “Makes more sense than you being a performer anyway. There’s no way in hell I ever would’ve believed that’s how you made a living. Honestly, I pretty much know jack shit about you, but you come off like you’d rather be dead than the center of attention.”

Mars gave a chuckle, offering him a shrug. "Well, I won’t argue with you on that."

Taking out his notebook, he looked around and jotted things down. He recorded what Broogsberg was like, what the town had to offer, and if it would be a safe place to return to.

A waitress came, took Mars and Lucio's order, and came back with two warm meals. The food looked suspicious at best. Still, Mars was too hungry to care and wolfed down his meal.

"So do you need to eat? Cause this tastes awful." Mars looked up at him from his bowl, eyes leering with the same curiosity he had the day before.

Lucio eyed the meal with revulsion before grabbing a fork and poking at it hesitantly. “I don’t have to eat to survive. Well, aside from hearts occasionally,” he said, nudging the food on the plate before setting the fork back down. “After I made that deal with the Devil, I just stopped feeling hunger entirely. I can still eat if I want to, but in this case I’d obviously rather not.” 

He pushed his plate toward Mars, his lip raised in disgust. “If you want this filth, go on ahead. I’d rather not give myself food poisoning, thank you very much.”

Mars took a second to jot down this information before putting down the notebook on the table and grabbing the other plate.

"No hunger at all...interesting." Mars took a forkful, scrunching up his nose at the taste. Despite this, he scarfed it down. "Bleh. You're right to not eat this, I’m not even sure what they were going for."

Mars was half tempted to test if the meat-like thing he was eating would bounce if he threw it. Still, he finished the other plate.

Chatter in the tavern was minimal and boring for the most part. For a while, Mars didn't bother to eavesdrop. But when the word "demon" came up in conversation, Lucio could practically see Mars' pupils thin when he began to listen in.

"....They say it came from the next town over, but something like that coming out for no reason isn't a coincidence,” a man at the bar said to the bartender.

"Think someone pissed it off?" the bartender responded.

"Nah, if it was, it would've killed something by now."

Mars put down money for their food, packing up his notebook and wiping his mouth. "We should leave."

Lucio nodded and stood from the booth, briefly glancing at the conversing men suspiciously. “Yep, we’re on the same page there.” 

When the two had exited the building and were seemingly out of earshot of any bystanders, Lucio spat out in a harsh whisper, “They better not be talking about me or I swear I’m gonna…” He let out a frustrated growl. “How the fuck did anyone find out? Did someone see us on the way here or something? I just…” He let in a sharp intake of breath. “We need to get out of this town. Right now. Any one of these people could recognize me and we’ll be screwed.”

"There's no way someone could've..." Mars bit at the fabric of his new gloves. "If someone saw us last night, we would've gotten stormed before morning."

He cursed under his breath as they quickly made their way to the edge of town. Mars had it in his mind that if in a worst case scenario Lucio was found out, he'd likely have to fight his way out of the situation. He wasn't exactly keen on killing people, but if any harm were to come to them, he would take quick action.

Someone shouted at them in such a way that Mars immediately reached for his dagger.

"There you are, you conniving brat!" This voice came from a noble. Upon turning around to face him, Mars' face shifted from fearing for his life to utter annoyance, as this was the man who ruined his morning.

The nobleman had a charm that only went as far as his looks, currently obscured by the bright red handprint on his cheek and the fact that he was yelling loud enough to spray Mars with his spit. "You have some nerve trying to leave town with your sorry pimp without facing any consequences!"

Lucio spun to face the nobleman, glaring daggers at him. “Hey! Who the hell do you think you are?” he snapped. In that moment, Lucio connected the dots that this had to be the man whom Mars had “serviced” earlier that morning. Lucio’s expression twisted to one of disgust at this realization.

Without thinking, he grabbed Mars’ shoulder and pulled him away from the nobleman, stepping between them protectively. “First off, I’m not a goddamn pimp, so you can go ahead and shut up, jackass! Secondly, who are you to tell him whether he can leave or not? Whatever you have to say isn’t worth shit, so you better back off or I won’t hesitate to make your life hell, you worthless son of a bitch!”

The nobleman gave a smug look, crossing his arms and looking to the man wearing a hat that he once owned. "I see the worthless whore has you wrapped around his gangly fingers. It wont go very far, I hope you realize. The little viper has no respect for anyone."

The anger and frustration of the morning flooded back into Mars’ system, him having to hold himself back from hurling himself towards the son of a bitch. Still, he restrained himself and tugged on Lucio's hand. "It's not worth it. We should just go."

"Running away again? You're not leaving until you pay me some goddamn respect after laying your filthy hands on me!" The nobleman hissed out, the smug look replaced with a scowl.

It took all the self-restraint Lucio had to not deck this man on the spot. Lucio stood firm despite Mars tugging at his hand as he stared furiously at the nobleman. After a few long seconds, Lucio hesitantly allowed Mars to lead him away from the aggressor, though he still put up some resistance and refused to let the man leave his sight.

“Why don’t you just let up already! He doesn’t owe you any respect in the slightest, not that you deserve any at all!” he yelled at the nobleman despite Mars urging him not to further provoke the altercation. “Anyone could see what a pathetic waste of space you are, so maybe if you’d let that fact in through that thick skull of yours, you’d finally have the sense to stay out of our way!”

"How dare y— Do you even know who I am? You've got some nerve speaking to me like—"

Mars cut the argument short, stepping in front of Lucio. "It's fine. I'll agree to your terms and we can move on with our lives."

The nobleman paused, smirked, then laughed. "That's much better. It seems you have more sense than...." he waved his hand to refer to Lucio. "....that."

Mars tried not to show that the statement irked him. Why should he care if someone insulted Lucio? He'd been an ass since the beginning, by all means someone having the nerve to talk to him the way Lucio had likely talked to everyone should be satisfying. But hearing someone actually insult his companion made his blood boil. The nobleman couldn't leave this situation unscathed, not by any means.

So, Mars approached and bowed his head. "My deepest apologies for insulting you, your grace." He looked back up at him, holding out his left hand for the nobleman to gingerly place his. Mars stifled a look of disgust when he kissed it. "It won't happen again, I can assure you."

Quickly, Mars pulled away and shoved his right hand in his pocket, tugging Lucio along with his left. "Lets go, c'mon."

Lucio watched the interaction with a mixture of disgust and disbelief. He was going to protest Mars’ yielding to the nobleman’s authority, though Mars pulled away from him before Lucio could manage out an objection. Shooting a final embittered glare at the nobleman, he finally turned to follow Mars’ lead.

When the two had made it sufficiently out of earshot, Lucio hissed at Mars angrily, “What the hell was that all about? That piece of shit didn’t deserve an apology! If anything, he deserves to be ripped to shreds, and I’m still more than happy to oblige!” He growled under his breath, shaking his head. “Ugh, I’m throwing up a little just thinking about it. I seriously can’t believe you.”

"Oh I know he didn't deserve it, especially with what he said." Instead of the disgust that one would expect, Lucio saw mischief dancing in Mars' eyes. "He'll have a terrible week. I made sure of that."

Mars didn’t know much about his curse, though he knew it brought him bad luck. At one point or another in his life, he managed to figure out that a small sample of his curse could be spread to other people. There was a faint red glow shining through the fabric of his left glove.

"And if that doesn't work, then this sure will." It was then that Mars showed Lucio what was in his right hand: a golden-brimmed leather wallet. 

For once, Mars was grinning.

Lucio stared at the wallet blankly for a brief moment before letting out a relieved laugh as his previous resentment melted away. “Alright! I suppose this changes things,” he decided amusedly, then light-heartedly remarked, “You didn’t have to scare me like that. I thought you finally lost it.”

Lucio couldn’t recall if he’d seen Mars smile since they first met. The expression on his face seemed foreign to him, but Lucio couldn’t help but feel a surge of contentment upon seeing Mars not look miserable for once.

‘ _Disgusting,_ ’ he thought to himself.

“Anyway, I hope that bastard had enough money on him that you won’t have to take up any more ‘ _jobs_ ’ for a while,” Lucio sneered. “I don’t want to have to deal with any more assholes like him every time we pass through a new town.”

Mars thought about the potential of having to service yet another asshole for money, gagged aloud, then laughed. "Ugh don't get me started, I've met enough creeps to last a lifetime. Next time I meet one, I think I'll just bite it off."

Mars paused to enjoy the moment. No talking down to one another, no mentions of wealth or status, just a simple moment of good. He took out his notebook and jotted something down before looking back up at his companion.

"Thank you, by the way," he said. "For, uh, that. For calling him out."

“Ugh, don't thank me, it was nothing,” Lucio replied dismissively, rolling his eyes. “He was getting in our way and I had to say something. Fucker wouldn’t back off, though, no doubt because he’s screwed in the head.”

Lucio’s lip curled in disgust as he thought back to the nobleman. “I guess it’s probably for the best you humored him instead of just letting me kill him on the spot,” he admitted begrudgingly, crossing his arms. “That probably wouldn’t have been the best course of action when we’re trying to maintain discretion.”

Mars paused, wondering if that was meant to be a compliment. He stopped writing his account of the day and began a new page.

There is a lull in the conversation as they walk. This lull allowed Mars to hear the distinct sounds of hooves, chains, and the noble's screeching voice.

Sighing, he pocketed the notebook. "No killing, if we kill a noble or his guards, word will spread fast."

Lucio came to a halt when he heard the noble’s voice in the distance. Scowling, he turned toward the source of the noise to see the nobleman and his guards approaching in the distance. Lucio groaned through clenched teeth. “The gall of this bastard…” he growled under his breath. His eyes remaining fixated on the nobleman and the guards, Lucio subtly nodded toward Mars and asked, “So, what’s the plan? Are we gonna try to make a break for it or are we taking them on?”

Mars laced his fingers together, stretching forward and cracking his knuckles. "I need to let out some anger, if you don't mind."

The noble and his guards came on two horses, the noble riding on the back of one horse along with one guard. Upon seeing the two, they charged.

Mars got a head start, catching enough speed to kick off a tree and knock the noble off his horse. The guard sharing it quickly hopped off to apprehend him.

What Mars lacked in strength he made up for in dexterity. In three quick motions, Mars managed to avoid being cuffed, shackled the man to the saddle of his horse, and sent the horse off with a _smack_.

The second guard got off his horse as well, also looking to apprehend Mars.

After briefly assessing the situation, Lucio dashed toward the second guard, intercepting his path toward Mars.

He reared back his left arm, then collided his fist into the guard’s jaw. While the guard was briefly disoriented, Lucio violently grabbed him by the shoulders and forced his body downward. He kneed him in the head and shoved his body backward and to the ground.

Mars looked over at Lucio's quick work of the guard and laughed. "Nice!"

While distracted, the noble stood back up with a smug look. Lucio could see the sudden panic and rage fill Mars’ eyes as the noble yanked back a fistful of his hair. Mars grabbed his arm, throwing him over his head and slamming him to the ground. He stomped his boot onto his chest to keep him there.

"You must _seriously_ have a death wish if you’re trying that shit again!" Mars spat, his face contorted in anger.

Lucio took a moment to assess the guard’s condition to ensure that he was sufficiently incapacitated. When the guard shifted slightly, Lucio swiftly kicked him in the head, knocking him unconscious. Lucio then turned to see how Mars was faring.

Lucio watched as Mars knocked the noble to the ground, then strode over to stand alongside him. Looming over the noble, Lucio sneered, “Didn’t I warn you to back off? We gave you an easy way out. You had so many opportunities to scurry back to the gutter where you belong, so don’t act like you didn’t see this coming.”

Lucio planted his foot on the noble’s chest. “Maybe now it’ll get through to you it’s not too wise to fuck with us.”

There was a stark silence in the nobleman’s row of poorly crafted insults thrown haphazardly Mars' way, his eyes filling with horror upon seeing Lucio's hoof.

"Demon!" He screeched, trying to squirm away. "De—"

Mars kicked him in the head, knocking him out cold.

Ah, shit


	5. Oh, Worm?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucio presses Mars for answers. Unfortunately, Mars is less than enthusiastic about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big worm!

Some things should be much too important to forget, yet they tend to be forgotten anyway. Sometimes, you leave your keys at home, you forget to finish an important assignment, you miss out on wishing someone a happy birthday. Sometimes, just sometimes, you forget that you’re a demon and have hooves that absolutely need to hide away, lest you be seen by prying eyes and gossiping mouths.

Sometimes just so happens to be now and you just so happen to be Lucio, who has to live with what he forgot.

The nobleman lay unconscious on the dirt path that they had fought in. Mars dropped his arms and clawed his hands through his own hair.

"We need to leave, now!" Mars' voice rose in panic. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Wasting no time, Lucio grabbed Mars by the arm and bolted in their original direction. “Yeah, shit, I agree, I’m glad we’re on the same page,” he breathed out, glancing behind him to make sure the noble and the guard were still unconscious, “but I’m gonna need you not to freak out right now because I have no idea where we’re going.”

The panic was evident on Lucio’s face. He cursed himself internally for having been so thoughtless as to forget to keep his hooves concealed. 

‘ _What the hell were you thinking!_ ’ he berated himself. ‘ _How could you be such a goddamn idiot!_ ’ Trying to suppress his thoughts, Lucio focused on the task of getting as far from Broogsberg as possible.

Mars ran a little ahead of Lucio. Unbeknownst to Lucio, his thoughts shouted a similar chant of self-blame.

The path they needed to take went along a river. Mars had it in his head that they would simply follow alongside the river until they got to the path they needed, but with the current situation, that seemed unlikely.

He hoped by his own shitty luck that there wouldn't be a boat.

When they reached the river, there was a boat. Most rational people would be overjoyed at this, given their current situation. Mars, however, wasn't like most rational people. He froze in place upon seeing it, eyes filled with terror.

Lucio nearly ran into Mars as he came to a stop. 

“Whoa, what the hell!” he exclaimed, narrowly managing to avoid collision as he stumbled to a halt. “Hey, what’s up with you?” he asked with a mixture of bafflement and concern as he noticed Mars’ frightened expression. Lucio followed Mars’ gaze to look at the boat and tried to discern the cause of his trepidation, though his brief effort was fruitless.

Mars snapped out of his terror-driven stillness. "Nothing, we just—"

He stopped mid-lie, eyes drifting back to the boat and the river. Mars felt his heart beating so loudly he was half certain Lucio could hear it. He lifted his leg to step into the boat and bit his lip, trying not to think of the rushing water or judgemental eyes.

He couldnt fucking do it. He froze up again and planted his foot back on solid ground.

Lucio let out a sharp bark of laughter. “What, you’re scared of water?” he asked incredulously. “Come on, you’ve gotta be kidding me! You literally throw yourself into life-threatening situations for a living! I watched you kill a man last night and THIS is what you’re afraid of?”

Lucio approached the water’s edge to stand next to Mars. “I’ll drag you into this boat myself if I have to,” he said amusedly. “I refuse to walk the rest of the way there if we don’t have to.”

Mars shook himself out of the fear-induced shock, cringing when he forced himself to set a foot inside the boat. The boat wobbled and Mars scrambled to cling to Lucio's arm.

"God fucking damn it,” he grumbled, too ashamed to look at him.

Lucio let out a small yelp, not expecting Mars to grab onto his arm. He instinctively brought his other arm around to steady Mars’ body and prevent him from falling into the river. “Okay, okay! Calm down, you’re fine!” He stammered out, flustered at his sudden proximity to Mars.

“Okay,” he breathed out after a pause, shaking his head, “here’s what we’re gonna do.” He pried Mars’ hands off his arm, then stepped back to assess the best course of action. “Um, you’ll just, uh, just stand there, I guess,” he said slowly, “and then I’ll, uh…” Lucio awkwardly wrapped his arms around Mars’ waist and hoisted him up. “…I’ll do this? Don’t freak out or I will absolutely drop you,” he quickly warned. “I don’t know, just…close your eyes or something?”

Lifting Mars up was surprisingly easy, him not making any move to resist or freak out on him. He complied to Lucio’s request and shut his eyes.

Lucio slung Mars’ body over his left arm, then carefully set one foot into the boat. After ensuring that his footing was steady, Lucio brought his other leg into the boat as well. He stood there for a few seconds to confirm that the boat was stable before slowly kneeling down and depositing Mars onto the floor. “Okay, you did it. You’re on a boat.”

The moment he was in the boat and on its floor, Mars clung to its sides.

"I’m on a boat," Mars nodded. "I don't want to be on a boat, but I’m on a boat. Okay." Very quickly, he took out his map. "The path we need to get to is two miles down this way." 

Mars kept his eyes locked to the map, trying to not focus on the water surrounding them.

Lucio hoisted the anchor from the riverbed and into the boat, setting the boat into motion. He grabbed the two oars which laid on the floor and pretended he knew what he was doing. Lucio considered disclosing to Mars that he had never operated a boat in his life, but decided against it since Mars was apprehensive enough about the situation as it was. Besides, maneuvering a boat seemed easy enough to him.

He wasn’t exactly renowned for his good judgement.

Lucio brought the oars into the water on either side of the boat and attempted to keep it streamlined. After about a minute of travel, the tip of the boat began skewing slightly to the right, so Lucio began stroking the right oar backwards in an effort to maneuver the boat back into place. This worked to some extent, though the boat remained somewhat skewed most likely as a result of his poor technique, hindering its speed.

“So, do you know what this path is supposed to look like?” Lucio asked, scanning their surroundings. “I just don’t want us to accidentally pass it or anything.”

"There's an uhm—" Mars snapped his fingers, trying to regain composure. "There's a turn in the river right before we have to get off. We need to leave on the left side." 

Mars closed his eyes in an attempt to calm himself down. The water wasn't so fast it was likely to trap either of them in the current if they were to fall out. Mars repeated this in his head until he was okay enough to peer down at the water.

The water did not look shallow, almost too dark and murky to see the bottom. His eyes locked back onto the map. 

"It's only two miles," he said stiffly. "Just two."

Lucio shifted uncomfortably. He had gotten so used to Mars’ incessant questioning that the silence felt more prominent than it normally would. He had contemplated simply sitting there, waiting for the boat to finally move two miles down the river, though that consideration became less and less appealing the more deafening the silence became. Still, without Mars’ onslaught of questions, starting a conversation felt near impossible.

Only near, though. Lucio realized that some things have still gone unanswered on Mars’ side of things. With him as a captive audience, there was nowhere for him to go for him to avoid answering something.

“Soooooo,” Lucio began, “what’s with you and that notebook?”

“Pardon?”

Lucio scoffed, “That thing you always write in! You’ve written down pretty much everything I’ve said, so I think I have a right to know why the hell you do that!” Crossing his arms, he leaned back in his seat. “I know it’s not you talking shit, so why? Blackmail? Admiration? I mean, I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to keep me in your thoughts, I have that effect on people,” He gestured to himself in a flattering manner, earning an incredulous look from Mars. He coughed awkwardly before continuing. “Okay, I get it, it’s not admiration. Quit looking at me like that.”

Mars raised an eyebrow. “Like what?”

“Like you think I’m stupid for asking!” Lucio’s lip curled in disdain. “You can’t expect me to know why the hell you do these things if you never answer any of my questions!”

“I can’t answer what isn’t asked.”

“I _just_ asked you something!” Lucio raised his arms in frustration. “Literally a second ago!”

“Hm. What was the question again?” Mars kept his eyes on the map he was holding. 

Though his voice gave way to nothing but a neutral disposition, Lucio could see that his gaze revealed the look of a cornered animal. He stopped himself from going off on an angry tangent, a knowing smirk replacing his irritated scowl.

“Hmm…on second thought, it _does_ sound like admiration,” Lucio teased. “I mean, what with those sketches of yours, you must spend a lot of time staring at me.”

Mars’ jaw dropped. “That’s— That’s not—!”

“Oh, no need to make excuses! I understand completely,” The red on Mars’ face drove Lucio to continue. “I mean, _c’mon_ , who could blame you? I’m talented, gorgeous, interesting, powerful, no wonder you’re _obsessed_ with me! I’m flattered, honestly.”

Lucio put extra emphasis on the word ‘obsessed,’ really trying to dig underneath Mars’ skin. Every word that was said was meant to push him towards actually answering the damn question he was desperately avoiding. As it turned out, it seemed to be working in his favor. Mars’ resolve ripped away at the seams.

“That’s— No! I didn’t— I don’t—”

Still needed more pushing, it seemed. “No need to be shy about it! If I was in your position, I’d fall for me too!”

Mars looked as if he considered jumping into the river… “Oh my god shut the fuck up—”

“I mean, why else would you write so much about just me for pages on end? Not even _I’m_ that absorbed into what I have to say.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“I—” Lucio stops himself, looking back over to Mars with a glare. “Excuse me?! What’s that supposed to mean?!”

Mars leans his head back, looking up at the sky. “Oh, I think you know.”

“Uhhh no? Actually, I don’t! Care to elaborate for once?!”

“I don’t care to, thank you for asking.” Mars closed his eyes, seemingly completely checked out of the conversation.

Said conversation ended there, absolutely no questions being answered.

By the time they’d reached the turn in the river, the boat was pretty much sideways despite Lucio’s best efforts. The angle of the boat made it difficult to row toward the left side of the river, so when Lucio finally threw the anchor down, there was a gap of a few feet between the boat and the riverbank.

“Shit…” he muttered, glancing back at Mars. “Hey, we’re here,” he said nervously. “Uh, you can jump pretty far, right?”

Mars nodded and stood, swallowing his fear as he prepared to jump. The boat wobbled under his feet. This time, however, Mars was able to balance himself. He seemed almost proud of this achievement.

It would only last a moment, though.

The river and the woods that surrounded it were eerily quiet. No chirping birds, no breeze, only the sound of flowing water.

The anchor was tugged, and the boat rocked abruptly, pulling the boat away from the shore and tossing Mars into the water.

“Mars!” Lucio called out in alarm as he watched him fall into the river. 

He peered over the edge of the boat for a second, processing what had just happened, before throwing off his cloak and hat, then jumping after him. Lucio swam forward through the murky water, grasping aimlessly in desperation, when he felt his fingers brush against fabric. Mars’ body escaped his grasp, however, and Lucio was forced to breach the water’s surface for air before diving back down.

After several long seconds of swimming and Lucio’s hope fading, he saw the faint silhouette of Mars’ body through the tumultuous water. His hand shot forward and managed to grab Mars’ wrist. Lucio swam upward to the water’s surface, assessing his surroundings. With Mars’ body in tow, Lucio swam several feet toward the riverbank. Lucio dragged Mars onto the grass before collapsing to his knees, coughing up water from his lungs.

Once he had composed himself, Lucio turned to see Mars lying unconscious in the muddy grass.

“Mars…” he heaved out with panic in his voice. He grabbed onto Mars’ shoulders and shook him slightly. “Mars, can you hear me?” When he got no response, Lucio began cursing under his breath as he tried to figure out what to do. “Okay… Okay, Mars, I apologize in advance, just…please don’t fucking die when I do this.” With one arm, Lucio raised Mars’ torso up slightly, and with the other, he punched Mars in the gut.

Mars' body convulsed on impact, spewing out all the water he breathed in while trapped under the murky waves. He coughed, sputtered, and held his gut.

"Fuck, f-fucking hell!" he groaned, curling up.

It was then that Lucio took note of something odd. Mars' glove on his right hand was now gone, a nasty bruise on his wrist replacing it.

Something in the water had tugged him down.

Something in the water stared at them, cloudy eyes blinking slowly. From the shore, Lucio could recognize the slithering serpent who had just attempted to drown his companion: a demon originally from a set of four assigned to check in on him in order to keep him in line and collect hearts before he had to eat them.

Vlastomil.

Lucio quickly stood and approached the water’s edge, his heart pounding in rage at the sight of the demon. “Ah. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” he stated dryly. “I never would’ve thought I’d run into you here of all places, Vlastomil. What a pleasant surprise. But, no offense intended, I was hoping I’d never have to run into your disgusting face ever again. Life’s just funny that way, wouldn’t you agree?” Lucio continued to stand rigidly as if bracing himself for attack, his expression murderous. “So, I think it would be in all of our best interests if you simply slunk on back to hell where you belong and let us go on our merry way, hm?”

Vlastomil laughed, slimy and uncaring towards Lucio's threats.

"I'm not here for your useless sake." He rose above the waves, his pale and disgustingly malleable body wriggling to do so. "I'm just here to take out a little urchin before he becomes a problem!"

His tail scooped under the boat and tossed it full speed towards Lucio. Mars was quick to act, throwing himself towards the other and pushing them both out of the way. It seemed as if Vlastomil was counting on this, his laughter sending ripples through the water as the anchor caught onto Mars' cloak, sending him flying backwards and flinging him onto the boat.

Lucio scrambled to his feet and rushed over to Mars who was collapsed against the boat. “Mars! Are you okay?” Lucio’s head snapped back to watch Vlastomil’s every move in case he decided to attack in Mars’ vulnerable state.

“Listen to me, Mars,” he said under his breath in a near whisper, refusing to break eye contact with Vlastomil, “you need to get out of here. I doubt either of us are equipped enough to take on the bastard and kill him, and I don’t want you dying on me yet, okay? If you’re strong enough to get up, you need to run. He’s only after you, not me, and I doubt he could kill me if he tried. I can fend him off long enough for you to get away, and then I’ll try to catch up. Please, Mars.”

Mars looked back up at him, bleary-eyed and forehead bleeding from his fall. He struggled for a moment before he was able to stand.

"I'll run," he promised. "But if I don't see you in five minutes, I’m coming back."

Freeing his cloak from the anchor, Mars ran off down the path and into the trees.

Vlastomil laughed again, his tail splashing in the water. "HA! I knew the boy was sentimental, but I didnt think he'd be stupid enough to care for you." Vlastomil slithered closer to shore, towering over Lucio. "What sick deal did you make with him to make that happen?"

Lucio scoffed and bore his teeth, standing firmly in place in spite of Vlastomil menacingly looming over him.

“He doesn’t care about me and I don’t care about him,” he growled dismissively, his arm subconsciously beginning to glow red. “And he’s anything but stupid, I’ll have you know! Otherwise, I wouldn’t be wasting my time with him. We simply have an arrangement that we’re both benefiting from, so if you do anything to harm him further, I won’t be all too pleased. You’ve already pushed your limit far enough, so you’d best stop trying my patience and move onto some other hapless victim, because Mars is anything but. He’s not worth the hassle, I assure you.” Lucio’s hands were clenched into fists, and his entire being was bristling with rage.

Vlastomil grinned, baring his uneven and jagged teeth.

"Now now, Lucio, no need to get so angry over a mortal's life, especially one you don't care about." He swung his tail towards his legs, lashing them and leaving two nasty gashes on both of them. "But that little vermin needs to die. I suggest you move before you join him. I was told not to kill you, but I don’t mind breaking a few rules!"

Lucio let out a pained shout as Vlastomil’s tail struck his legs. He stumbled back, but quickly regained his footing. “What the hell are you talking about!” he snarled. “Told by who? And why are you after Mars of all people? He’s done nothing! Regardless, I’m not letting you get anywhere near him, and there’s no way you’re killing me in the process!”

"Who do you think?"

Vlastomil peered down at him. It was easy to see that he thought Lucio was stupid for even asking. He did not bother with the second question, instead choosing to wrap his tail around Lucio's leg and fling him into the water.

Lucio kicked his way to the surface of the water, gasping for air. “Oh, fuck you!” he spat out before diving back down. Lucio reached out and grabbed Vlastomil’s tail with his claws, brutally digging into his flesh. Though his grip was unwavering, it was difficult for him to see amid the rushing water around him.

The water hissed and bubbled around his claws, steam rising to the surface. His tail tugged him forward as Vlastomil made an attempt to slither away from him. However, Lucio's painful grip kept him from doing so. 

Vlastomil growled, trying to shake him off as he began to move towards the woods. "Ugh you're so annoying!" He swung his tail up and slammed him down into the riverbed. "You should be happy I'm doing this!"

Lucio let out a grunt as his body was thrown against the ground, knocking the wind from his lungs. He attempted to retort to Vlastomil’s comment, but was interrupted by a fit of coughing. Despite this, his face twisted in fury and he raked his claws through Vlastomil’s tail before finally releasing it. Though his entire body was sore from the impact of being slammed into the ground, he was able to disregard the pain and rush forward to attack once more, this time sinking his blade-like claws into the midsection of Vlastomil’s serpentine body.

“I’ll be happy when you finally decide to back off and mind your own revolting business, jackass!” he finally managed out hoarsely, venom behind his words.

Vlastomil hissed loudly, now focusing all of his anger onto Lucio. He wrapped his body around him in an almost bone-crushing grip. In mere seconds, Lucio was unable to breathe.

"You have gotten in the way for the LAST time—"

Vlastomil's attention was quickly taken away by a loud _whistle_. Up ahead, Mars stood. 

"Hey ugly!" he shouted. "Come ‘n get me!"

Lucio strained his neck to see Mars standing a short distance away. Unable to speak as a result of Vlastomil’s iron grip, he settled with mouthing ‘ _What the hell?_ ’ while shooting Mars an almost indignant look. 

With Vlastomil’s attention temporarily drawn away from him, however, Lucio was able to claw his way out of Vlastomil’s coils. He leapt to the ground and scrambled to stand between Mars and Vlastomil defensively. He had no idea what Mars’ plan was, but he was going to do whatever it took to keep Mars as much out of harm’s way as possible.

"Try and keep up with me!" Mars taunted their aggressor before throwing Lucio his sword and booking it through the trees. Vlastomil was quick to follow.

Mars began to run through the trees, twisting between them in odd patterns. He ran through the odd gaps in tree trunks, around thick oak, over any hedge or lowered branch his body could vault. Vlastomil was at his heels. His serpentine body twisted and turned, wrapping around the trees that Mars led him through, chasing without so much as a second thought.

It was after passing a particularly eaten through oak when Mars looked back at Lucio, his only signal as to what he wanted him to do.

Thankfully, Lucio caught on. He ducked behind a tree, allowing the other demon to surpass him in his relentless pursuit of Mars. When given the signal, Lucio plunged the sword into Vlastomil’s back, twisting the blade.

Vlastomil screeched in pain, turning to try and bite Lucio, but could not reach him. His body was tangled and trapped between the wide girth of the trees.

Mars ran back toward Lucio, leaping into the air and driving his full weight onto the hilt. Another screech of pain. The scream shook the trees and as Vlastomil's body curled in on itself to writhe, the rotten wood Mars made him wrap around snapped and fell onto him, further trapping him in place

Lucio grabbed the sword and violently ripped it out of Vlastomil’s body. Eyes remaining fixed on Vlastomil’s writhing figure, he nodded toward Mars in acknowledgment.

“I’d say this is a good time for us to take our leave, wouldn’t you agree?” he growled out before slashing into Vlastomil’s body with the sword once more for good measure.

Vlastomil struggled beneath the tree, hissing again at the extra slash. 

"Sounds fantastic." Mars struggled to catch his breath. Now that the adrenaline in his body ran short, the pain began to catch up with him. His legs wobbled, and he held his still-bleeding forehead in his hand.

Mars looked over at the demon, exhaustion setting on his face. "That won't keep him forever, c'mon…" He stumbled forward, but caught himself on a tree. "Oh fucking hell, come on.”

Lucio wrapped his arm around Mars’ back to support him. “You said it, let’s hurry.”

Lucio wasn’t sure if they were going in the right direction, but that was the least of his concerns at that moment. He walked at a brisk pace for the first few seconds as he made sure Mars regained his footing, then quickened to a run. “We can figure out where we are later,” he heaved, giving Mars a sideways glance, “but we’re not stopping until I know that freak is far behind us.”

And so, they walked as far as their legs could take them. They kept going two hours past sundown. With the dim light of Mars' magic and the serpent far behind them, they decided to camp out for the night.

Mars was quick to set up a small campfire, sitting down the moment he was finished. The day’s wear and tear on the two had finally fully set into the both of them, Mars unceremoniously leaning into Lucio's back.

"You knew that thing?" was the first question he asked.

Lucio sighed, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Unfortunately, yes,” he replied bitterly, the exhaustion apparent in his voice. “Back when I made my pact with the Devil, he sent four demons to…I don’t know, monitor me, I suppose? Make sure I was collecting pure hearts and whatnot. Ugh, they were pieces of work, I tell you, I couldn’t stand them,” he drawled, sprawling out further onto the ground. “Honestly, the one good thing that came out of being banished from Vesuvia was never having to see those assholes again.” 

Lucio sighed and shook his head. “That demon back there was Vlastomil. I’ve always hated that guy. He’s even more obnoxious than he was two hundred years ago, which I didn’t even think was possible.” Lucio let out a groan and sat back up, turning to look at Mars. “I don’t know why, but he’s after you and he wants you dead. The Devil’s orders, apparently. And if he sent Vlastomil after you, I’m sure he sent the other three as well. Lucky us.”

Mars gave a tired laugh and leaned his head back. "Greeeeaaat. Very exciting. Can't get enough of that rotten eel smell."

Mars reached into his bag and pulled out his notebook, going completely silent. The pages were curled and wrinkled from the river water, the ink smudged. He gently put it on the ground and pulled his knees up to his chest.

"Lucky us."

Lucio looked at Mars’ notebook, unsure of what to say. It was obvious that Mars was upset by the condition of his notebook, his writing made illegible after being submerged in the river. They sat in silence for a few long seconds before Lucio hesitantly placed a hand on Mars’ shoulder.

“Hey, um… Next town we get to, we’ll find you another notebook, okay? And if there’s anything you need to know about my whole situation to…you know, replace your notes or whatever, it’s…it’s no problem. Just ask.”

Mars looked at his hand, then his face. The silence from him was slightly stunned. A gentle smile grew on his face, him placing his own hand on Lucio's.

"Thank you," he said. "Yknow, if I didn't know any better, I'd call you an angel." Mars laughed a little before turning to face him. It was then that he noticed the two gashes on Lucio's legs. "I don't think Ihave enough energy to heal you, but I have a medic kit, Ican try to clean those up."

Lucio felt himself flush at Mars’ response and instantly regretted trying to be nice for once. He hoped Mars didn’t notice. 

He was relieved when Mars’ attention was drawn to the gashes on his legs. “Yeah, go ahead,” he grumbled, turning his face away abashedly. “We could be walking all day tomorrow if we‘re trying to get back on track, and I’d rather not be completely miserable the entire time, thank you very much.”

Mars rummaged through his bag for a moment and sighed in relief when he found that his medic kit was unharmed. It was a small wooden box, the kind doctors or medics would carry on the battlefield. From the box, he took out a small bottle of alcohol and a cloth he dampened with some of the water from his canteen.

"For both of our sakes, neither would I." Mars began to gently clean the gashes and fur surrounding them. "Besides....after today, you kinda deserve it. Not being miserable, I mean."

Lucio grimaced when Mars began to apply the alcohol. “Oh you’re absolutely right, but I doubt either of us are getting a break anytime soon,” he said brusquely. “You know, when you’ve been alive for nigh on two hundred years, spending most of your days doing absolutely nothing, time just starts to just rush by and you lose track of days and weeks at a time. But I’m telling you, these past two days have felt like an eternity in comparison.“ He sighed and leaned back to rest on his elbows, closing his eyes. “And I’m still not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”

"Well if it's any consolation, running for your life and almost drowning is at least not boring, so I hope it's more thrilling than a cave or I'd be concerned." Mars gave a chuckle and reached into the kit again, pulling out a small tube filled with a blue cream. Upon application the pain numbed.

Lucio opened his eyes slightly to watch Mars treat his wounds. “That medic kit you have…” he murmured, “I remember seeing ones like that in the military. I guess they haven’t changed much since then. Where did you even get one like that? Admittedly I still don’t know you all too well, but there’s no way you were ever a military medic. I’m sure that would’ve come up by now.”

"The kit? Oh…uh…" Mars paused before answering. "It was a gift. My ex gave it to me for my birthday since I kept sparring so much. He used to tell me stories of when he was a medic on the battlefield." Mars looked down at the kit with fondness. "It was sweet, even if he told me gruesome stories over dinner."

Lucio let out a dry chuckle. “Wow, so romantic,” he commented sarcastically, rolling his eyes. “But I‘m not complaining. I’m just glad your medical supplies weren’t damaged in the river. Next time you see your ex, make sure you thank him for me.”

"Well, I guess it's a promise." Mars stretched and took off his cloak, folding it and using it as a pillow. The need for sleep faded in too fast for him to fully process that his head was slightly pressed against Lucio. "I'll even tell him some tales as pay back," he yawned loudly. "It'll be great…"

Without much preamble, the two passed out as Mars’ words trailed off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Plz leave a comment! I crave validation :D

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!


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